HAMPDEN-SYDNEY, VA - Greg Lewis (Mechanicsville, VA / Hanover) connected on eight three pointers Wednesday night to tie the Hampden-Sydney single-game record to help give the #19 Tigers an 81-70 win over ODAC foe Lynchburg College. Hampden-Sydney is 18-2, 10-1 on the season and riding a 17-game home-winning streak. Lynchburg, receiving one vote in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25, fall to 16-4, 7-4 ODAC. With the Randolph-Macon 68-65 win on the road at Virginia Wesleyan, H-SC now sits all alone atop the ODAC standings.
The game turned out to be a three-point contest in the early going. Manny Hernandez got open off a screen and nailed a three-pointer from the left wing, and Michael Wims banked in a shot from deep to put the guests ahead 6-0. Lewis then connected on his first two triples on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 6-6 with 17:50 to go in the half. Leon Hargrove (Raleigh, NC / Middle Creek) then converted a circus shot layup on the break to give the Tigers the 8-6 lead.
After a Khobi Williamson (Norfolk, VA / Maury) layup at 12:55, Hernandez and Austin Chillemi buried consecutive trifectas to put the Hornets back ahead 16-12 just 54 seconds later. Chillemi then scored five straight points, and along with four points from Williamson and a Brandan Connor layup, LC took a 23-16 lead at the 10 minute mark to force a Tigers timeout.
The timeout proved to be a shot in the arm for H-SC. Fletcher Lumpkin (Richmond, VA / Mills Godwin) made one of two free-throw attempts, and a Gary Boone midrange jumper pushed the lead back out to eight, but the Tigers would score 16 of the 20 next points following the timeout.Harrison George (Raleigh, NC / Leesville Road) drove from the right wing and dunked on Austen Arnold. George followed it with a theft of Alex Graves, leading to an authoritative Williamson dunk in transition. With the home crowd rocking and H-SC with momentum, Lynchburg called a timeout leading 25-21 at the 7:55 mark.
Coming out of the timeout, Arnold mishandled the ball receiving a pass at midcourt as the ball went out of bounds. Lewis made the Hornets pay as he dialed up a trey, and Lynchburg's fourth straight turnover led to another circus layup from Hargrove, putting H-SC up 26-25 with 7:06 to go. Lynchburg once again coughed up the ball leading to another Williamson dunk, pushing the lead to 30-27.
The turnover fest ended on the next possession as Chillemi tipped in a missed layup. Williamson and George scored the next four points to put Hampden-Sydney ahead 32-27 with 5:31 left. The three-point show then resumed. Hernandez connected on one from deep range, but Lewis drilled two of his own. Hernandez and Lewis then traded one more trifecta apiece. Each team scored a couple two-point baskets to close the half with Hampden-Sydney up 45-37.
Lewis opened the second half with yet another three ball, his seventh of the contest, to give H-SC it's first double digit lead of the game at 48-37. Andrew Simmons and Wims then hit two triples, and following a Simmons free throw, the lead was just four, 48-44, at 16:58. George made one-of-two free throws at the 16:17 mark to end a 3+ minute scoring drought for the Tigers. Lynchburg trimmed the lead down to two a minute later, but Hampden-Sydney reeled off the next seven points to go back ahead by nine, 56-47, at 13:24.
After a Lynchburg timeout, the Hornets quickly got back in to the game, going on a 7-1 run over three minutes to make it a four-point game again with just under 10 minutes remaining. The Tigers replied with two Williamson free throws and Lewis' eighth three-point shot of the contest to go back up nine in less than a minute. Lynchburg cut the lead down to five on a couple occasions, but the Hornets were not able to threaten to win the game down the stretch.
Lewis scored a game and career-high 24 points, making eight of his 12 three point tries. He tied the three-point record held by Jay Patrick and TJ Grimes. Williamson scored 18 points (7-11 FGs, 4-4 FTs) along with a game-high nine rebounds, with seven coming on the offensive end. George stuffed the box score, also posting 18 points (6-11 FGs, 6-8 FTs) with seven boards, three assists, four steals, and two highlight reel blocks. Hargrove tallied 12 points with four caroms, five assists, and three thefts. Keegan Wetzel (Mebane, NC / Eastern Alamance) corralled a career-high seven rebounds.
Hampden-Sydney shot 42.9% (27-63) for the game, 33.3% (8-24) from three, and 63.3% (19-30) from the foul line. Lynchburg went 45.3% (24-53) from the floor, 37.5% (9-24) from deep range, and 81.2% (13-16) at the charity stripe. The Tigers held a slim 34-31 advantage on the boards, but each team struggled to defensive rebound. Hampden-Sydney had 20 offensive boards compared to just 14 defensive while Lynchburg had 12 offensive and 19 defensive. Lynchburg turned over the ball 21 times, resulting in 26 Tiger points, while H-SC gave up the rock 16 times, leading to 18 points for the Hornets. Despite the numerous offensive rebounds, each team only had 13 second-chance points. H-SC controlled the paint again, posting 34 points in the lane compared to only 18 for LC.
Hampden-Sydney, winners of seven straight, go on the road to Washington & Lee University in Lexington, VA, on Saturday for a 2 pm contest. H-SC previously defeated the Generals 61-41 on January 12 after leading just 21-20 at the half.